Dubai - places to see / things to do
 

Going to Dubai in the fall (Oct). The internet is a clusterfuck of info.

Will be there for 3 nights, 4 days.

What are some things to do, must see places?

So far I got:

Jumeria beach
Burj hotels x2
Dubai mall
Ferrari world--??
Desert Safari

what are some non-baller yet authentic dining places?

any pro tips?

i am a "have not" kind... not the "have yacht" kind..

Also when is Ramadan this year?

TIA

i was there 5 years ago.
Ramadan 2015 begins in the evening of Wednesday, June 17
and ends in the evening of Friday, July 17

Desert Safari was OK, i would suggest you to BOOK for a HUMMER 1 to do the tours and NOT sit on a Highlander to do 4X4 in the desert.

If you do stay at the nice hotels, be prepared when you check in, you'll be sure to be already handing out 50 USD in tips. The bell boy, the door man, the dude who teaches you how to use the room buttons on how to turn on the blinds etc.

I went in May via abu dhabi.

Honestly you can see dubai in 2 days. Abu dhabi in 1 day.
-I used airbnb and rented a decent apartment in the marina district (modelled after our false creek apparently)
-Burj Khalifa and Desert safari is a must do.
-The afternoon tea at the burj al arab is $230pp.. but its the only way to get into the hotel.
-Dubai mall is okay... it's more expensive than Canada aside from chanel apparently. I'm not into designer goods, I only went to the emirates store to buy an A380 scale model.
-The ski dubai is a novelty you can try for around $50 for two hours, everything rental included.
-I used the metro all day pass to get around, it's very efficient. Bus might be confusing though. I rented a sim at the airport for $10. comes with 20minutes and 200mb. It was perfect for just using google maps.
-I went to abu dhabi via public bus. I went to the sheik zayed mosque and the emirates palace which was pretty cool. Only went to the outside of ferrari world, I thought it was a ripoff BUT if you buy the two park pass, yas waterworld and ferrari world, it could be worthwhile. You can also rent a small formula one car to go for a spin around the yas marina circuit for around $300.
-Foodwise, there is this really good pakistan restaurant in this indian neighbourhood called Ravi's. I thought I was in New Delhi, everyone was indian there haha. You can only get there via public bus though. There's also good and cheap Shwarma. There's also a famous filipino fried chicken chain called Jollibee's but there's always a 1+ hour wait line since ALL the filipinos in dubai go there to eat. Oh yes, there's also lots of tim hortons as well.
-I didn't rent a car but as for renting a car, lots of free parking but beware that going to abu dhabi there's a electronic toll. Also everyone drives crazy there + long delays during rush hour. From what I heard, if you crash into a local emirati, you are automatically at fault. If the local is injured or worse, you will go to jail.

noclue basically summed it up nicely but I'll add a few things because I was in Dubai in December.

-Check out the fountains and the outdoor area at the Dubai Mall, best time is during the evening I believe they go off every 30 minutes or so. You can also do a mini boat cruise in the lagoon where the fountains are if you want to snap some pictures and have a romantic moment with the misses lol.

-Also the atmosphere during the evening in and around the fountains is nice because it seem like to me it was a popular spot for locals to come out and sit around because locals don't club or go out toe lounges (they can't drink). Plus you have a Tim Hortons close to where the fountains go off so you can grab yourself a Timmy's coffee, sit back and relax.

-I did the high tea at the Burj al Arab because my wife forced me to. It was ok, had some nice views but imo wasn't worth the money we paid. As mentioned by noclue, it's the only way you can get on to the hotel grounds unless you have a room.

-Taxis in Dubai are very cheap. Not cheaper than the metro but still very cheap to get around places especially during the evening when you might want to go out to a few different spots.

-Not sure if you're into clubbing but I did go to Cavalli club and Cirque Du Soir. Absolute waste of time. Cavalli club is run by what look like eastern European gangsters and I've read horror stories about them denying people based on what they're wearing or your ethnicity. I didn't have any issues. Both clubs are nice but both were full of escorts and creepy old man. I personally wouldn't waste time checking out the clubs.

-Check out "old Dubai" which is closer to the airport. It's basically the real Dubai and not like downtown Dubai which is all new. Old Dubai has all the old markets, home of the founder and the gold souk. Cool thing is you can take the water taxis up and down the creek and get off at different stops for one flat rate.

Tim hortons in Dubai eh? Weird

Some questions for you guys...

Which co. did you use to book the Desert Safari?
Why the hummer? whats the diff?
Was there any traditional meals / camel rides / atv'ing included?


Is it possible to take the Metro to say Jumeriah beach and walk to the beach?
Do you recall the service provider for the $10 sim? And how was the coverage?
Was Airbb that much cheaper than a hotel? Marina is around the Dubai Mall correct?

Do the taxi's try to scam you like they do in Vegas?


Any suggestions for a airport shuttle / or to/from airport to hotel?
Likley going to be staying around the Dubai Mall area.

One thing that stuck out from my trip there last year were the number of Tim Hortons. They outnumber Starbucks by a lot.

Every North American fast food joint is there.

Consider doing a tour organized by your hotel. They'll cover all the major attractions.

Palm islands over rated though the Atlantis building was nice. High tea at burj pricey and not worth it.

If you want a tour of burn Khalifa you need to book well in advance. I didn't realize it so didn't do the tour.

Already mentioned above but public transit is very reliable is easy to use.

I don't really understand the appeal of a hummer H2... The land cruisers are IMO much more cooler. Camel rides, sandboarding, henna tattoo, wear their clothes, dinner is free, but the camel ride is literally just a quick circle. You have to pay for a ATV and petting a falcon. It's worth it. I used groupon and it's only $50 a person.

You can't take the metro there but from dubai mall to the jumeriah beach it's only $5 taxi. The cell phone place is called Etisalat, you can't really miss it there all over the airport. Coverage is great. I went with a group so airbnb was cheaper but if you are soloing it or with 1 person hotel is good. Marina district is 40minutes below the dubai mall, near the palm island.

Taxi's dont rob you but just make sure the meter is on. It's so cheap anyway that even if they take the long way it'll be immaterial. You can board the metro right outside DXB airport. There's nothing but super expensive hotels in the dubai mall area I think though (Conrad, Armani, Ritz Carlton, Jumeriah, JW marriott etc)

I stayed at the Conrad which is next door to the Fairmont that has the two clubs I mentioned above. It's about a 10 minute drive from the Conrad to the mall but there is a metro station right in front of the hotel. The location of the Conrad isn't great because there's not much around, its more of a hotel suited for business travelers.

If you want to stay right beside the mall than check out "The Address, Dubai mall" but "The Address, Downtown Dubai" is highly recommended and isn't too far from the mall. I'll probably stay at the Downtown Address next time I visit Dubai because of the location and the reviews.

To the guys that took the metro:

Is it really a 30min walk from the Dubai Mall metro station to the Dubai Mall?


Also no longer staying around Dubai Mall area- friken exp af!
Any suggestions to stay 15-20mins away from metro? Trying to narrow the search on expedia but it's hard to say "hotels near metro station 15-20mins away from city centre via metro"

What's your budget for lodging?

trying to keep it under <$100/night.
ok to travel on metro for 15-20mins to Dubai Mall each day.

It's kind of like Metrotown and the Metro town skytrain station but the walk is probably about 15 mins. You'll be doing a lot of walking since everything is so spread out.

We stayed at the peal marina hotel. We had a terrace that overlooked an artificial creek and boardwalk. It was away frkm the malls and downtown but the metro was about a 20 min walk. I didn't want to spend a lot on the room since we weren't gonna be in the room for long.